Team Member

Booker T. Washington Excellence Network was started by Dr. Sarah Washington O’Neal Rush to encourage character leadership training based in ethnic unity. In a diverse world and workforce, having the skills that allow you to lead effectively and inclusively are more crucial than ever.
The philosophy of our teaching programs follows her great-grandfather, Booker T Washington’s school of thought when starting Tuskegee University. He focused on uplifting and empowering individuals regardless of their race and socio-economic backgrounds. His teachings of the head, the hand, and the heart (I couldn’t find in the book what exactly his teaching was) allowed him to turn out more self-made millionaires than Yale, Harvard, and Princeton universities combined, in 1905. His ideals stand strong to this day, enlightening a path of unwavering leadership and self-assuredness.

Upon visiting Tuskegee University for the first time, Dr. Rush found her purpose in helping others find success and reach their full potential. Carrying forward the legacy of her great-grandfather, she espouses his evidence-based teachings on character building, education, excellence, leadership, and personal responsibility. She incorporates these teachings with her modern-day training methodology and her personal and professional experience in mental health and leadership.

Dr. Rush earned a doctorate degree in education in the field of leadership, and a master’s degree in the field of psychology. In the field of psychology, she has been an adjunct professor and a clinical counselor, providing therapy to individuals, couples, families, children, and teens. She has provided case management and social work for a foster care home, and she was an administrator for a youth crises shelter. Dr. Rush has published many articles, and has appeared in print media, on radio, on television, on podcasts, and in documentaries discussing mental health, self-improvement, and the historic life and work of her famous great-grandfather.